farrell article review2

8/6/2019 Farrell Article Review2

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A Critique of Miller et al.


Brian Farrell

University of British Columbia

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Leslie M. Miller, Heidi Schweingruber and Christine L. Brandenburg have

attempted to study the perceived divide between middle school aged boys and girls and

their acceptance of computer technology. The study authors conducted a brief review of

some relevant literature to their research and then embarked upon a fairly extensive

survey of middle school aged children from across a spectrum of socio-economic classes.

Through a discussion of prior studies, the authors contend that most males view

technology as an open-ended and fun activity, whereas females view technology as a

structured tool used to accomplish specific goals. The authors were thorough in

developing a wide respondent pool of some 568 students, which would later translate into

a final analysis of 512 students, and constructed a series of surveys to pose to their study

subjects. Miller et al. delineated students in their survey by socio-economic class using

the number of free or subsidized school lunches at each school in their study. The

surveys developed incorporated several different question types that attempted to

determine the level of students’ computer ability and the various contributing factors that

created variances in the level of students’ acceptance of computer technologies. The

study authors found that the perceived gap between boys and girls with regard to

technology has narrowed significantly to the point of no longer being relevant.

While I found the research data obtained in this study to be largely valid, I do

have some concerns with some of the methods that the study authors followed. Much of

the research cited in the introductory discussion of this article is ten or fifteen years old

and from a period when computer technologies were quite new, and the idea of a

household computer was very novel. Indeed, this period of research is also one where

women and girls were fighting to establish larger societal equalities and so perceptions in

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other relevant recent findings to contrast with their own research.

I feel that this research is unfortunate in that it presents what are likely some

significant findings, but without adequately examining and incorporating other studies.

The study authors make no attempt to even discuss what other factors may have lead to a

perceived divide between females and males in the technology-based workforce, and,

indeed, do not even present any evidence that such a gap exists or did previously exist.

While the study authors have conducted a largely sound research study, its findings lack

credibility and usefulness if they cannot be reliably placed in a larger body of research.

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References

Kaiser Family Foundation (1999, November). Kids and media @ the new millennium: A

comprehensive national analysis of children's media use. Menlo Park, CA: The

Henry J. Kaiser Foundation.

Miller, L. M., Schweingruber, H., & Bradenburg, C. L. (2001). Middle school students'

technology practices and preferences: Re-examining gender differences. Journal

of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 10(2), 125-140.

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